# International Training in Environmental Health over the Lifespan

> **NIH NIH D43** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2021 · $247,408

## Abstract

Project Summary
Global environmental health is recognized as the most pressing challenge of our time. A recent report by The
Lancet estimated that environmental pollution causes three times more deaths from non-communicable
diseases (NCD) than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined and that 92% of pollution-related deaths and
diseases occur in low and middle income countries (LMICs). The mission of the Mount Sinai Division of
International Health is to collaborate with LMICs to identify, document, prevent and mitigate environmental
health problems especially in vulnerable populations such as children and underserved communities. Because
of the close, long-term collaborations established through previous NIH-funded programs, we are poised to
collaborate with new partners in Latin America. Based on those experiences, we propose to employ a proven,
multi-tiered research training strategy that builds on local strengths at the individual, institutional, and regional
levels with public university partners in Costa Rica, a country of many environmental strengths and challenges.
The Mount Sinai-Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (UNA) partnership is centered on equality and builds on
each partner’s strengths. Our aims are: 1)To create a Mentored Research Scholarship Program in which
junior scientists will be paired with mentors in the US for training in research methods and to conduct long-term
research projects in Costa Rica. 2) To enhance teaching in Environmental and Occupational Health by
collaborating in the creation of short-term courses that enhance research capacity for a broad range of
biomedical and health professionals. 3) To promote South-to-South-to-North Collaboration by supporting a
program of Advanced Research Scholarships to Costa Rican scientists that have a high potential to be self-
sustaining. This multi-level approach to capacity building at the individual, institutional, and regional levels will
ensure that the proposed program has both depth and breadth. The guiding principle of this program plan is to
recognize the strengths of each partner and build on these through mutual collaboration. The program will,
therefore, increase the likelihood of continued long-term impact. In line with our mission, the centerpiece will be
a mentoring program uniquely designed to avoid the “brain-drain” of researchers from the partner country and
instead builds capacity within Latin America. We expect that the program will result in 30 highly-skilled
professionals in environmental health sciences conducting research at local public universities. Their projects
will include multinational collaborations and the enhancement of environmental health resources for
researchers in Costa Rica. We estimate based on our previous research training programs that the mentored
and advanced research projects will generate at least 60 research publications. There will also be an
estimated 250 participants in courses who will be able to incorporate environmental an...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10246525
- **Project number:** 5D43TW011403-02
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** Luz Claudio
- **Activity code:** D43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $247,408
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-15 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10246525

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10246525, International Training in Environmental Health over the Lifespan (5D43TW011403-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10246525. Licensed CC0.

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